I use a PDP 820 2-leg stand, and as far as the actual hi-hat performance (i.e. the top cymbal goes up, the top cymbal goes down), it's more than adequate. The stand is solid without being too heavy, and I love how tight I can snug in my slave kick pedal. The solid plate under the pedal is nice, although it doesn't fold for transport that I can figure out. Having said that... if I had it to do all over again, I would buy a three-legged stand.

The two-legged stand is simply not as stable and doesn't do well at all on surfaces that are not precisely level. (Whenever does a gigging drummer encounter playing surfaces that aren't precisely level? Oh yeah. ALL THE TIME.) I think I would gladly trade that little bit of inconvenience involved with getting leg number three out of the way for some more stability.

My ad hoc solution to this has been to take a very old piece of hardware that looks like it was made to hold a cowbell or something very light back in the 60s or 70s and use it to "brace" the hi-hat stand with one of my cymbal stands. It works great, and weighs less than some big mounting arm/multi-clamp solution, but it's one more thing to set up, and I will likely go back to a three-leg stand when the time comes to get a new stand (whenever that is... this one probably has another ten or fifteen years left in it).

so ive decided instead of buying a new sound this month to buy something that may/should improve my comfort/set-up when playing

ive seen a number of different stands all varying in prices from the
Stagg HHD-508
Pdp 820 Series
DW 3500t
DW 5500TL
DW 9000

and others
what do you guys use/have used?

cheers

I have used a DW5000 for about four years and I like it. I actually converted it into a no-leg stand and I clamp it to a cymbal stand that just has two legs. Instead of seven points of contact, I have just three, resulting in less gear to schlep and setup and a cleaner footprint. I use my hat and left foot a lot and it is stable enough for me.

These day's I use the medium weight DW two leg stand.
When I bought it, it was a 5000 series stand, but I think it's a 3500TL now.
I've had it a couple years, and there have been no problems at all.
It was a decent price, and it's been roadworthy. I have no fears of it falling apart or anything like that.

If you aren't concerned about how heavy the stand is, the Gibraltar 2 leg Liquid Drive hat stand is REALLY nice. VERY smooth, comfortable and responsive.

... Having said that... if I had it to do all over again, I would buy a three-legged stand.

The two-legged stand is simply not as stable and doesn't do well at all on surfaces that are not precisely level. (Whenever does a gigging drummer encounter playing surfaces that aren't precisely level? Oh yeah. ALL THE TIME.) I think I would gladly trade that little bit of inconvenience involved with getting leg number three out of the way for some more stability.

That has been my experience with every single two-legged hh stand I've ever played. I'll take 3 legs any day, but I can say that because I rarely use my double pedal - if I used it more, I might change my tune on that!

I have issues with two-legged hi-hat stands. I think it's a physics problem. A triangle is most stable when you actually have three sides of it. When you take away one side, and replace it with the pedal, it's not as stable because the pedal is not meant to be the third angle of the triangle. When I had one I had to tilt the hi-hat stand a bit to get it to be stable, but then my cymbals were now at an angle, I prefer my hi-hats to be flat. and then there's the bulkiness of the stand itself, a DW 9000 two-legged hi-hat stand was so heavy and it felt wobbly to me. Imagine a lighter stand with only two legs? That must be a nightmare.

Give me three legs anyday, and the hi-hat stand can be nice and light, which is good for traveling, and playing!

I never had problems with wobly stands, even when mounted a quite havy sidesnare to hit, when the 2 feets are placed right.

I play this very very nice model:

Build like a tank and still easy to carry arround.

That photo really drives home something important: it isn't the number of legs so much as the spread. I think a three-legged stand with a small spread would be less stable than a two-legged stand with a big spread. I have a no-leg stand clamped to a two-legged cymbal stand (three points of contact instead of seven) and it is quite stable because of the large spread of the the cymbal stand legs and clamps that hold the hihat stand so far out.

That photo really drives home something important: it isn't the number of legs so much as the spread. I think a three-legged stand with a small spread would be less stable than a two-legged stand with a big spread. I have a no-leg stand clamped to a two-legged cymbal stand (three points of contact instead of seven) and it is quite stable because of the large spread of the the cymbal stand legs and clamps that hold the hihat stand so far out.